A Life in Darkness
by Luna4ever
Summary: Molly Weasley, the home-maker of the Harry Potter series, shows her strength during the Battle of Hogwarts. This is the story of how she got there and why her hatred for Bellatrix Lestrange runs deeper than Neville Longbottom's hatred of the Death Eater.
1. Chapter 1

A Life in Darkness: A Fanfiction

Chapter One

The platform, the steam, the engine sounds, the whistles, the smell – everything was a dream. After visiting Platform 9 ¾ for the past four years, I was finally able to board the Hogwarts Express and hurtle off toward the huge castle in one of the compartments. My father looked at me proudly, and my mother smiled in a sort of bittersweet way. I was the youngest in my family, and my parents would truly be free from kids once I stepped onto the train.

"Come on, Molly!" my sister exclaimed, grabbing my hand and pulling me so that I could see the front of the train clearly. "Aren't you excited?"

My eyes quickly glanced at the words 'Hogwarts Express' before turning back to Alice, whose auburn hair swished as she turned her head. "Of course I am!" I said indignantly. "I've been waiting to board this train since Fabian and Gideon first came here."

"That was four years ago, wasn't it?" Alice asked, pausing for a moment and looking awestruck. "Fourth years, that's what they are! Our brothers are teenagers!" She giggled and grinned, looking at me gleefully.

"They were teenagers last year, too," I added, beginning to laugh. Her laughter was so contagious, but no one else seemed to feel the spell; in fact, other third and fourth years gave us strange looks and walked away. I didn't care.

"I'm a second year!" Alice announced, posing. "That makes me closer to being a Prefect than you." She poked my shoulder playfully.

"That's only if you get to be a Prefect," I pointed out. "I'm sure there are more responsible Gryffindors at Hogwarts."

"Are you saying I'm not responsible?" Alice asked irritably, then suddenly let out a laugh and added, "I suppose I'm not, but that's not your business to say so." Losing interest in the conversation, Alice skipped away to where Fabian was chatting with a very pretty girl.

"Go away, Ali," I heard him say as I ran over, not wanting to be left out. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"So what if you're busy?" Alice said obnoxiously. "I'm going to tell Mum that you're not being nice." As though she would carry out this threat, Alice turned her head and flounced over to where our parents stood.

Fabian rolled his eyes, ignoring Ali's threat, and said to me, "Go ahead and explore, Molly. The train doesn't leave for another ten minutes." He turned to the girl, saying, "They're my sisters… Molly's just starting this year."

Taking Fabian's cue, I ran over to my parents. "This is it, Mum!" I burst out, unable to hold it in. "I'm going to Hogwarts! Did you ever go to Hogwarts? Oh, of course you did. I can't wait, Mum! Will I have to pass a test to get Sorted? What happens if I'm not in Gryffindor like Fabian or Gideon or Alice? You'll write, won't you? And I'll come home for Christmas, of course. Oh, and Easter, I'll come home for that too. Are there any more holidays?"

My mother laughed, her eyes full of happy tears. "Molly," she said softly, putting her hand on my shoulder, "your father and I both went to Hogwarts – that's how we met! You don't have to pass a test to get Sorted, all you have to do is try on a hat. And honestly, I don't care which House you're in, just do well in whatever House you get. Of course we'll write! I'm not sure Hogwarts allows any more holidays. How many times do you want us to write?"

Mum had managed to answer every single one of my questions. I beamed and replied, "You can write as often as you want to! And I'll respond, I promise!"

"Don't put it before your schoolwork," Dad warned. "Doing your homework is what will get you through unscathed."

"Your father was a Ravenclaw," Mum explained, "and he's still got that spirit in him. I agree with him, though, so do your best in school, because that's what you're there for."

I grinned. "I will, Mum and Dad," I said seriously. "I promise that, too."

The whistle blew. Alice, Fabian, and Gideon all came running over to give our parents their good-byes. "Hurry!" Dad exclaimed, giving me a hug. "You don't want to be left here again."

"We love you!" Mum said as she also gave me a hug.

"Love you!" I called, dashing off to the train and climbing aboard.

Looking around, I didn't spot any of my siblings. I had hoped I might share a compartment with Alice, but it looked like I was on my own. After all, I told myself sternly, they already have friends here. Now it's your turn.

Taking a deep breath, I walked calmly to the first compartment I saw. Opening the door, I saw a bunch of Slytherins, the oldest of which was very good-looking. One (a shockingly blonde boy) looked at me, curled his lip, and then kept on talking to his friends. I quickly shut the door and kept on walking.

Opening the door to what I hoped was a much friendlier compartment, I peeked in and saw two boys: a redhead, like me, and a brown-haired geeky-looking boy. They both looked my age.

"Is it all right if I sit here?" I asked tentatively, looking between them.

"Sure!" the brown-haired boy piped up. "I'm Benjy – Benjy Fenwick. What's your name?"

"I'm Molly Prewett," I said, smiling and shaking his outstretched hand. "And who are you?" I asked, directing my question toward the redhead.

"Arthur Weasley," the boy said cheerfully. "I'm awfully excited to be at Hogwarts, aren't you?"

I nodded vigorously. "It's going to be so fun!" I exclaimed. "I can't wait!" Realizing that I was still standing, I took a seat next to Benjy.

"Which Houses are you guys hoping to be Sorted into?" Benjy asked, looking at Arthur and me.

"Well, I'm hoping Gryffindor, just because all my siblings have been Sorted there already," I replied. "It's not a good reason, I s'pose, but I don't really think I'd fit in any other House."

"I'm hoping for Gryffindor too!" Arthur exclaimed, looking delighted. "We might be in the same House! What about you, Benjy?"

"I always thought Hufflepuff was the best fit for me," Benjy sighed, looking down at his feet. "I've heard that a lot of people make fun of them, though."

"Hufflepuffs are cool!" I said immediately, because Benjy looked awfully sad. "I mean, I obviously prefer Gryffindor, but I think all the Houses are awesome, except Slytherin, because they're rather weird. And I've heard that they do dark magic. I'm not sure what exactly is involved in dark magic, but Mum says it's something I shouldn't ever know. But Hufflepuffs are cool! Did I say that already?"

Benjy laughed and looked a little bit happier. "You said it twice," he responded, "but I like it that way." He smiled and cocked his head, somewhat amused at my chatter.

"Well, Fabian says that I should stay away from boys, at least for my first few years," I laughed, continuing to talk, "but I've already made my first friends in boys!"

"There's nothing wrong with us," Benjy said, grinning. "Isn't Fabian a boy?"

"Yeah, he is, and he's got a twin brother, Gideon," I informed Benjy and Arthur. "I've also got a sister here, Alice, and she's a year older than me. Gideon and Fabian are fourth years."

"I've got a couple siblings here as well," Arthur said, "but we sometimes don't get along very well." He smiled wryly, adding, "At least, we get along on some days, but we don't get along on other days, like today."

This made both Benjy and me laugh. The train rattled along, taking us to the place of our dreams: Hogwarts. Thoughts crowded my brain, and I made them known to Arthur and Benjy; our happy conversation was only interrupted by the trolley lady, who offered us candy. Naturally, we accepted, and a few minutes later, we were happily eating Pumpkin Pasties, Chocolate Frogs, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

"You know," Arthur commented, "I've never really liked Every Flavor Beans." He wrinkled his nose when Benjy, a grin on his face, offered a sickly-looking green bean. "You eat it, then!" Arthur exclaimed, pushing the bean back toward Benjy. Delighted, Benjy popped the entire bean in his mouth, only to spit it out in disgust.

"Vomit!" he choked, grabbing a napkin and coughing like mad.

"And that," Arthur said calmly, a little twinkle in his eye, "is why I don't like Every Flavor Beans."

"Shut up," Benjy coughed.

I grinned. "I think I'll just take a Cauldron Cake instead…"

We finished eating soon after, changed into our robes, and then chatted about Hogwarts. It seemed like a dream as we all walked off the train and onto the platform. The cool night air nipped at my nose as I stood with Benjy and Arthur, my heart hammering in excitement.

"First years, this way, follow me!" I heard a man say. Looking around, I saw a rather large man, a little bit rotund, with extremely long hair. It almost looked as long as Professor Dumbledore's fabled hair. This man's name, I later found out, was Ogg. It was just plain Ogg. He didn't go by anything else, apparently, and didn't want anyone to call him anything other than Ogg.

Gathering around Ogg in a small pack, he smiled when he seemed to notice that he had all the first years and said, "We'll be heading to Hogwarts on the boats. There'll be five to a boat, but we won't get separated. So follow me!"

He took us to a dock, where we all clambered into the boats. Sharing a boat with Arthur, Benjy and me were two other girls, whose names I found out were Dorcas Meadowes and Marlene McKinnon.

For a while, the charmed paddles gently pushed the water about as we sailed silently toward our destination. My heart was now beating excitedly in my chest. The moment I had waited for eleven long years had finally arrived, and as I looked up, Hogwarts appeared before me. I gasped audibly at the beautiful castle with its warmly-lit windows.

"Look, I can see the Great Hall!" Dorcas exclaimed, her blonde hair flying everywhere as she bounced in the boat and it shook precariously.

"I can too!" Benjy exclaimed, grabbing Dorcas's arms and trying to keep her from turning the boat over. Marlene grinned and, like Arthur and me, looked up at the castle in wonder. A thousand thoughts ran through my mind as we got off the boats and began to walk toward the castle, following Ogg through the celebrated doors.

No longer my usual self, I couldn't even begin to take everything in; the walls of stone, the moving paintings that welcomed us and the group of ghosts that waved cheerily at us and introduced themselves. The only word my new friends heard me say for those first few minutes inside the castle was "AGH!" as Peeves, whom my sister had warned me about, began throwing water by the bucket loads and managed to drench me to the skin.

"Goodness," a man with a long, auburn beard who had suddenly appeared, "Peeves, must you really welcome our first years with this ruckus?" He peered through his half-moon glasses at the colorful poltergeist with an amused glance.

Peeves chose not to respond. "Ickle firsties," he cackled instead, "what fun, what fun!" He swooped at us one more time before zipping away.

"We really must learn to control him," the man sighed, and as he turned toward our little group, I noticed that his nose was broken and wondered why he didn't fix it. Perhaps, I thought, he was a Squib, but at least he could have gotten someone else to fix it for him. Shrugging to myself, I barely caught his next sentence: "Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts! My name is Professor Dumbledore, and I'll be your Transfiguration teacher here. In a moment, I'll escort you into the Great Hall, where you will await your Sorting."

"What's that?" Benjy asked worriedly.

Professor Dumbledore laughed good-naturedly. "There are four Houses here at Hogwarts," he explained. "They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Whilst here at Hogwarts, these Houses will be like your family: any rule-breaking, you will lose your House points, and any good behavior will be rewarded with House points. At the end of the year, the House points are tallied up and the House with the most points wins the House cup. Sorting simply involves putting on the Sorting Hat so it may decide which House will most suit your personality traits."

"It can see inside our minds?" Marlene asked in wonder.

"In a way," Professor Dumbledore said hesitantly. "I'm sure you'll hear the full story some other time; but now," he added, looking at Ogg, who nodded, "it is time to enter the Great Hall!"

Our group shuffled into the Hall, some of us completely drenched from Peeves's bucket-dumping escapade, and some of us completely dry. It must have been an odd sight to behold, but as we walked down one of the long tables, I heard a boy whisper to a girl, "They must have met Peeves." Perhaps this was his welcoming ceremony for all first-year students.

My next few minutes were my greatest dream. As the Sorting Hat finished its song, I turned around to see if I could spot Alice, Fabian, or Gideon at the Gryffindor table. Alice waved at me, and I grinned, my nervousness slightly subsiding.

Friends were Sorted; Benjy went to Hufflepuff, Marlene went to Gryffindor, and so did Dorcas. After a few moments, I heard Dumbledore call "Prewett, Molly!" from, it seemed, a mile away. I stumbled up to the stool and sat on it as Professor Dumbledore put the Sorting Hat on my head.

"Ah," it said, "a Prewett… I know exactly where to put you. GRYFFINDOR!"

Cheers erupted all around me, and I happily skipped away to join Alice.

"Molly, the Sorting Hat…" she began, but I quickly realized that I'd forgotten to take off the Sorting Hat, so I ran back to Professor Dumbledore and handed him the hat amidst gales of laughter. Slightly red in the face, I skulked back to Ali.

A few minutes later, Arthur was the last to be Sorted into Gryffindor; a lazy grin spread across his face, and he ran to join me – after taking off the hat.

The next hours were a blur. Headmaster Dippet spoke a few words; our Prefects lead us to the common room; I was in bed, talking to Marlene and Dorcas.

As I fell asleep that night, my head was spinning, but only one legible thought could come to mind: I was at Hogwarts, the place of my dreams. Right then, laying in my dorm, was probably one of the happiest moments of my life.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

I woke up to the shaking of my bed. My curtains were suddenly ripped open, and before I had a chance to grab my wand and blindly hex the intruder, I heard my sister's voice: "Molly, wake up, I have something important to tell you!"

"Molly, what's going on?" I heard Dorcas ask sleepily. The sound of her bed curtains opening and her feet making their way to my bed woke me up, and I shook my head to clear it.

"I don't know," I said, peering out of my bed curtains to find Dorcas looking at me worriedly. "Ali wants to tell me something…"

Dorcas looked extremely relieved. I heard Marlene yell, "Molly, tell Ali that the next time she wants to tell you something, she can just levitate you out of bed!"

Alice looked offended. "I don't wake everyone up that much," she said resentfully, but Dorcas and I looked at her with our eyebrows raised, and she hastily added, "I said I didn't do it that much!"

"Yeah, you do," Marlene called, and saw her bed rock a bit as she grabbed a superfluous pillow and threw it randomly. Oddly enough, it narrowly missed Alice's head.

"Good grief, I'm leaving, I'm leaving!" Alice exclaimed, glaring at Marlene's bed. "But Molly's coming with me," she added, almost sounding like she was threatening me.

Rolling my eyes, I hopped out of bed and grabbed my wand. I pointed it playfully at her and said, "If you try anything, Ali, I'm armed."

"Uh-huh," Alice laughed, and she marched me to the common room. Looking down at my bunny slippers, and then at Arthur, who was already there, I turned a delicate shade of red.

"Frank asked me out last night!" Alice finally exclaimed, once she had lead me to a couch in front of the fireplace. "We're dating!"

A little annoyed that this was the news Alice had woke me up at nine o'clock on a Saturday morning to tell me, I said flatly, "That's great, Ali."

My reaction was clearly not one that my sister had been expecting. "Molly," she said slowly, as if I hadn't understood the first time, "I have a boyfriend. Remember Frank Longbottom, the boy I've been telling you about? Yeah, he asked me out last night."

"I got it, I got it," I said irritably. "That's great! I'm really happy for you, don't get me wrong! But couldn't it have waited until… oh, I dunno… eleven? It's O.W.L. year, Ali, I need my sleep."

Alice sighed. "Fine, sleepyhead," she said, but I could tell she was in a good mood. "Go get some sleep."

"I'm awake now!" I exclaimed, but Alice had already gone back up to her dorm. Sighing, I grinned to myself and looked over at Arthur, who had been sitting quietly during the entire ordeal. Taking a hint from me, he shyly walked over and sat by me.

"You're still in your pajamas," he pointed out, looking down at my bunny slippers, a little smile on his freckled face. He polished his glasses on his shirt before looking back at my slippers.

"Ali dragged me out of bed," I explained, laughing. "Marlene and Dorcas didn't appreciate it."

"Doesn't she do that every Saturday?" Arthur asked.

I nodded and shrugged my shoulders. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now… I guess I'm not." I grinned at Arthur before, quite suddenly, he threw his arms around me and kissed me. Releasing the kiss, he looked at me hesitantly, as if he'd done something wrong.

It looked as if today was both Alice's and my lucky day.

"We have to tell Fabian and Gideon about this. They'll want to know."

"They'll murder us!"

"We can't hide it from them forever!"

"But they'll murder us!"

Alice sighed, looking at me as if I was a nutter. "We'll have to tell them eventually," she said.

We were debating whether to tell Fabian and Gideon about our love interests. It was now common knowledge around Gryffindor that Arthur Weasley had snogged Molly Prewett, and that Alice Prewett was now dating Frank Longbottom. It seemed that, no matter how uneventful the news, it travelled fast.

Our twin brothers were now in Auror school, having graduated the previous year from Hogwarts. They were ready to fight Gellert Grindelwald's leftover followers, and Fabian had repeatedly told me that both of them were willing to die for the cause. I was not happy about this; our family, in my opinion, should stick together and stay out of trouble. Fighting for a cause you believed in was one thing; purposely seeking out a fight was another.

"They'll still murder us," I pointed out stubbornly, but five minutes later, Alice and I had composed a letter to Fabian and Gideon and had sent it off with our owl, Athena.

A few days later, a response from Fabian and Gideon arrived, bearing horrible phrases that jumped out at me from the page. Things like "supposed to protect yourself", "should concentrate on school", "could be taking advantage of you", and "we're not there anymore to help" were just a few phrases that caught my eye. With a pained expression, I looked at Alice's watery eyes and didn't even have the heart to tell her that I was right.

Later that night, I wrote a quick response to Fabian and sent Athena, hoping that my favorite brother would be the more reasonable one.

His response was beautiful.

_Dearest sister Molly,_

_I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. It's one of those "overprotective-brother-must-keep-sisters-safe" ordeals. Gideon admits that he overreacted too, but he's not going to send a letter – you know how stubborn he is. But we were both wrong about you two. You and Ali can take care of yourselves; I think we've taught you enough. I can't wait to see you at Christmas._

_All my love,_

_Fabian_

I showed the letter to Alice, and we both grinned in ecstasy.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After I had graduated from Hogwarts, I didn't really know what to do with myself; the thing I could do best was cook, and I didn't know a wizarding job that required an expertise in cooking. I thought briefly of being a Healer, but my grades didn't stack up, and I hadn't even taken the right courses. Finally, I decided on a job as a cook at the Leaky Cauldron. I didn't make much, but it was enough for now.

Arthur had proposed to me two months after we were out of school. My parents thought we were both too young to rush into this arrangement, but we both knew that we were meant for each other; I had my sister's full support and my brothers' half-hearted support (they had still never adjusted to Alice and me having love interests). At that time, Arthur had been nervously awaiting an offer for a job interview for the Ministry of Magic's Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, where he wanted to work.

"Molly," he had told me, "I want to get a good job and a house for us before we get married. I want to know that I've given you all that I can." By saying that, he had gained my parents' wholehearted approval.

"You may be young," my father had said, brushing some gray hair out of his face with a slightly-wrinkled hand, "but he's a responsible young lad, and I know you're responsible, because I raised you myself."

I smiled at the remembrance. I was making some stew in the kitchen of the Leaky Cauldron, anxiously awaiting Arthur's arrival to tell me how the interview went. Since it was just my wages that were piling up for a house of our own, I hoped that he would get the job; we certainly needed the money.

Stirring the stew and adding a few perfectly-chopped carrots, I closed my eyes and reveled in the smell, trying to rid myself of worry for the time being. As I worked, I reflected on the current events, even though they were no less worrying.

During my seventh year at Hogwarts, a man who christened himself Lord Voldemort rose to power. He was gathering followers, who helped him kidnap, torture, and murder. It was Gellert Grindelwald all over again; this time, though, it was worse. Lord Voldemort was more terrifying than Grindelwald ever was, and although Dumbledore had defeated Grindelwald, I was doubtful whether Dumbledore had enough strength to defeat another Dark wizard. The man was probably one hundred years old by now, and his voluminous, white beard proved it.

Amidst all the turmoil that was rising, my sister had gotten married. Alice Prewett, or as I should get used to calling her, Alice Longbottom, had married Frank Longbottom. Both of them had begun training right out of Hogwarts to become an Auror, but because of the demand for Dark wizard catchers, and because of their talent, they started work almost right away. Ali sent letters every once in a while; she had said in her letters that, although she cannot reveal exactly what they were doing, that she's loving it. Battles and action was her sort of thing; but when she asked me why I never became an Auror, I realized that my most important goal was to have a family.

Fabian and Gideon had joined an organization called the Order of the Phoenix, which was started by Albus Dumbledore in order to fight He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, as many people were calling Lord Voldemort. They were members of a secret society, and because of my brothers' involvement, I couldn't say a word about it to anybody; Arthur knew, but he was the only person who was not a member of the Order, besides Ali and Frank. I worried about them constantly, and since it was almost dangerous for me to go to work every day, I knew that my brothers were in even more danger. Involuntarily, I shook my head; I couldn't imagine a life without Fabian or Gideon, so in my mind, it wouldn't happen.

My friend Benjy, as well as Marlene and Dorcas, had also become Aurors and joined the Order; Benjy's job was to check on the safety of those whose family members were in the Order and to make sure that they were safe and fully protected. You-Know-Who, according to Dumbledore, might kill family members in order to force the members of the Order to come over to the Dark side. In other words, I saw Benjy quite a lot these days, and so did Mum and Dad. Marlene and Dorcas worked with each other, gaining information about You-Know-Who, and trying to gather followers.

My parents were reaching an elderly age, but they were still agile and competent. I lived at my parents' house, but all of us hoped that it wouldn't be for long; my father often joked of how he would love to get me out of the house, since that was the whole reason he sent me to Hogwarts. I grinned, and one of my fellow chefs said, "Molly, what's so funny?"

"Nothing," I said, shrugging, but a little smile remaining on my face. "I was just remembering."

He nodded. "That sounds nice… memories help, especially in these times."

Today, I thought, my mind going back to Arthur as I nodded and added some spices to the stew, was the determining day for our future. Just as my heart began to beat a little faster in nervousness, as if I already knew what would happen, I heard the back door swing open and a voice yell, "Mollywobbles!"

"Arthur?" I called, not wanting to abandon the stew, which was nearly ready. The other cooks gave each other sly grins as one said, "We'll be back, Molly… we're out of corn." I ignored the remark, seeing as a huge bowl of corn was near me. My fiancée came to hug me and put his lips to my neck, and I sighed in relief.

"I'm guessing that this means good news?" I asked as he continued to kiss my neck.

I felt the kisses stop. "I got the job," Arthur said proudly, "and I'm Head of the department, too!"

My jaw dropped as my heart soared. "Arthur, honey, that's great!"

"You know what this means?" he asked softly as I turned around, daring to leave the stew for just a moment. "We're going to get married. I've got it all settled. I'll start work tomorrow, and within a week, we'll have enough for the house that we've looked at!"

A week. Arthur must be making a killing, I thought to myself. "What about the money I've saved up?" I asked, grinning at him, but reaching behind me to stir the stew again.

Arthur looked dazed for a moment before saying, "Molly, we're getting married."

I closed my eyes for a brief second before I ladled the stew into several bowls and put them on a plate. Once a waitress had taken my concoction, I threw my arms around Arthur's neck and kissed him. Words failed me. I couldn't even begin to think; my heart was racing, and I nearly had a fit of hyperness. I was going to get married.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Once Arthur and I had bought the house we'd been dreaming about for quite a while, I christened it The Burrow. Arthur often asked me why I called it that, and the only answer I could come up with was that 'The Burrow' sounded homey and gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling. It was the feeling I came to associate with family.

"Molly Weasley, we're home," Arthur sighed, looking over at me as if he was in heaven. His look expressed everything I felt; if we weren't in heaven, this was as close as we'd get.

Two weeks ago, Arthur and I had gotten married in a simple but elegant ceremony. We had honeymooned in Austria, a truly beautiful country with amazing scenery, if not much wizarding history. Now, we were using a newly-bought Ford Anglia to drive home.

In front of my eyes, The Burrow loomed. It wasn't an intimidating sight, as Hogwarts had been, but a friendly, cozy sight that I could rest my eyes on and know that I was safe.

The car smoothly glided to a stop and we both got out of the car to unpack our luggage. As we dragged the first load into the house, I gasped audibly; even though we had decorated everything before we left, the sight of the tall, narrow house was still breathtaking. "It's so huge," Arthur murmured. "What are we going to do with all this space, Mol?"

I smiled at him. "Well, we'll fill it with children, of course," I laughed. Since Voldemort was gaining even more power than before, it was my dream to have a house full of children; not even the Death Eaters, as rumor had it his followers were called, could be able to wipe out my family. There would simply be too many of us.

"Naturally," Arthur replied, kissing my cheek.

Quite suddenly, our moment was disturbed by a voice shouting, "CONGRATULATIONS TO ARTHUR AND MOLLY, THE NEWLYWEDS JUST HOME FROM THEIR HONEYMOON!"

"Gideon!" I exclaimed, running up to give my hiding brother a hug. "I didn't know you'd be here!"

"Neither did we," said another voice, which I recognized as Fabian's. "Oh, kidding, we knew you were coming, so we thought we'd welcome you home."

I grinned ecstatically and looked over at Arthur, who was wiping his glasses and laughing at the same time. "I should've known," he choked, waggling a finger at Fabian and Gideon. "You've been hunting me down ever since I proposed!"

"Darn right we have," Gideon said seriously, crossing his arms and attempting to look sternly at Arthur, a feat which intimidated my husband, but a trick that I knew all too well. "I see what you want with my sister…"

Knowing full well that Gideon and Fabian had probably heard me telling Arthur that I wanted kids, I said quickly, "Where's Ali? Shouldn't she be here with you?"

A sullen voice responded, "I was hoping you wouldn't guess."

Alice and Frank Longbottom emerged from behind a chair, grinning sheepishly. "But Gid," she added quickly, "you're one to talk. You haven't even had a long-standing girlfriend yet."

"Shut up," Gideon exclaimed, turning pink in the ears, which was always a warning sign that he was liable to explode at any minute.

"Yeah, well, we're both in the Order of the Phoenix, and I'm gay," Fabian said seriously, "so if you don't have any suggestions as to where I find other gay guys, then I'm kind-of stuck, so don't blame me."

"Then quit the Order of the Phoenix and get a girlfriend!" Alice exclaimed, the second half of Fabian's statement not quite sinking in yet. But Alice frantically moved her mouth, having finally registered the full statement and she, Gideon, and I all looked at Fabian in shock, not even noticing that Arthur and Frank had faded into the background and were attempting to leave the Prewetts to deal with each other. "You're gay?" Gid asked, as if he'd never seen Fabian clearly before. "How come you didn't tell me? We're – we're – oh my gosh, Fabian, we're living together, you idiot! You need to tell me these things, don't you think?"

"Um…" Fabian stuttered, looking down at his shoes. Everyone's eyes followed his head, but when he resurfaced, he was laughing.

"Dude, you guys are so gullible," he laughed, a couple tears streaming down his cheeks. "I haven't been able to pull a prank on Gid for the longest time…"

Gideon looked absolutely furious with himself.

The next time I saw my brothers, it was when I was six months pregnant. Their involvement in the fight against the Death Eaters was getting ridiculous, and I worried every day about their safety. Worse, they were trying to convince Alice and Frank, who were both expert Aurors, to join as well. True, Voldemort had murdered more Muggle families in the past year than had been murdered in the past century, but he was never going to bother us; why should we bother him?

I knew that it sounded selfish when I gave Fabian and Gideon my reasons the day they came to visit me, but with a child on the way, I simply didn't want to risk my life with the knowledge that a child could be left motherless.

"William needs me," I insisted, rubbing my swollen stomach, which encased the child Arthur and I would name William, with love.

"Mol," Fabian said, looking extremely serious, "I know you think that Voldemort has nothing to do with us, but how long d'you think it'll be before he tries to recruit Ali or Frank?"

"He won't go for people like us," I said dismissively. "Ali and Frank are Aurors; they're not Knights of Walpurgis!"

"Molly," Gideon sighed, putting an arm around my shoulder, "I know you want everyone to stay protected. But Voldemort went to recruit our parents last night."

I looked at Gideon in alarm, and Fabian, who had moved to stand next to Gideon, nodded solemnly. "They tried to fight, Molly, they did, but…"

Suddenly, the world had been ripped out from under me. Fabian didn't need to finish his sentence; I knew what had become of my beloved parents. Tears began to well up in my eyes, and I looked at my siblings in fury. "So this is how you're going to recruit me to the Order?" I asked, rubbing my eyes with a furious gesture. "You're going to tell me that Mum and Dad have been murdered, and then you'll tell me that it's become my battle? Listen to me! I'm not going to fight in the Order! I've got children to take care of!"

"One child, Mol, who hasn't even been born yet," Fabian said gently, tears beginning to form in his eyes as well. He came over and also put an arm around my shoulder, and even though I was very angry with the pair of them, it was still comforting to know that they were there. "Molly, we're not trying to be cruel, I swear. We were heartbroken when we found out. But –"

"– Voldemort is out there, Mol, and we need to do something," Gideon finished; one of their habits was finishing each other's sentences.

"You can," I said thickly, leaning on Fabian's chest. "I'm going to raise my family. Don't you see how family is important? What happens if I don't have anybody? What happens if Arthur and I die and my kids don't have anyone?"

"They'll have us," Fabian assured me.

"But you're in the Order and could die any day!" I exclaimed hotly, even though I didn't want to admit the perilous situation my brothers had gotten themselves into. "They need someone stable, someone who won't purposely do anything dangerous!"

Fabian and Gideon couldn't come up with a response to that, and once Alice had arrived, we grieved together.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Ali, you can't!" I exclaimed frantically, rocking Bill back and forth as he put pudgy hands to my slightly swollen stomach. When my sister didn't respond, my heart raced faster. "Ali, please, don't," I finally pleaded, hoping that it would dissuade her.

"Look, I'm sorry, Mol," Alice said, her face sad at my reaction to her news, "but I feel like this is something I need to do. After Mum and Dad's…" She paused, unable to say the words. "This is my duty," she said with a finality that I knew I couldn't disagree with. "I have to join the Order."

"But what happens if You-Know-Who kills you?" I asked fearfully. "What happens if you end up the same as Mum and Dad? I can't lose all of you. I can't."

"Fabian and Gideon aren't going anywhere," Ali responded softly, stroking a strand of my hair in an attempt to comfort me. "And neither am I. I've been running after Dark wizards for the past few years, Molly. I was risking my life then. Joining the Order changes nothing."

My siblings simply didn't understand. Being Aurors was one thing; joining an anti-Voldemort society when Voldemort was alive, murdering, and pillaging was another. I didn't care if they were doing it 'for the greater good', as Dumbledore sometimes said. They could live near the Burrow, and we could make our area Unplottable; Voldemort would never find us. We'd be safe, and we could live a normal life. But they had to go out and seek a fight.

"You're not being a Gryffindor," Alice pointed out, her twelve-year-old stubbornness coming out as she cocked her head and smirked slightly. "Gryffindors are supposed to be brave, you know."

"I'm being brave," I shot back, defending my actions. "And I'm also being smart by staying out of danger so I can raise a family."

Bill gurgled and said helpfully, "Mummy's got Charlie in her tummy!"

"I know," Alice said gently, picking Bill up from my lap and cradling him in her arms, "but don't you think Mummy should go out and fight the bad guys, too? Do you think that Auntie Alice should go fight the bad guys?"

"Yeah," Bill laughed, "but not Mummy. Mummy needs to stay with me. Me and Daddy and Charlie before bad guys."

Alice sighed, handed Bill back to me, and said, "You've taught him well, Molly." I laughed. "But he gave me permission."

"Really, Alice? You're going to take advice from an eleven-month-old baby?" I asked, still laughing.

"I said you'd taught him well, and you took the compliment," Alice pointed out, grinning devilishly. Now a little exasperated, mainly because I'd almost let her win, I shrugged my shoulders halfheartedly.

"I can't win, can I? Go ahead. Just don't take any unnecessary risks."

"Oh," Alice said carelessly, "you know me. I'm a daredevil."

This did not reassure me any, and even though I heard from my sister and my brothers quite often after this scene, I still worried about them daily. Arthur came home from work with more bad news every day; wizards who were under the Imperius Curse walked around the Ministry daily, more people were disappearing and more bodies were being found, and Order of the Phoenix members were under particular risk.

One day, Arthur came home with the first truly terrible news of people I'd received since Fabian and Gideon told me about Mum and Dad's murders.

"Honey, they found two bodies," he whispered, kissing Bill and my stomach before kissing my nose and looking me straight in the eyes. His own eyes were full of tears. "They were Order of the Phoenix members."

Immediately, my heart stopped and I thought of Alice and Frank, or Fabian and Gideon. Who was it this time? Who had left me forever?

"Remember Dorcas and Marlene?" he continued. "They were working to recruit more members to the Order… and… oh, Molly!" he suddenly exclaimed, and he began to let the tears roll down his face.

I gathered the worst of his movements. Dorcas and Marlene, my best friends and roommates at Hogwarts, were gone. They had been my surrogate sisters, my friends, the people who had always been there for me when my family was not. And where had I been, for them? I felt Charlie kick, and my heart turned over as the tears began rolling down my face as well.

"Why is You-Know-Who trying to destroy my life?" I choked.

Arthur's whispered response was no comfort: "He's ruining everybody's lives, dear."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The first thing I was aware of hearing were happy noises, almost like laughter. They issued from the voice of my newborn child Charlie, my second child. "Are you ready to see him?" came the question from one of the Healers.

"Of course," I said, and amidst all the white around me, I saw a beautiful little boy with bright green eyes and slightly reddish wisps of hair. Charlie smiled a big, toothless grin, and his eyes found my face. "Hallo, darling," I whispered as the Healer handed him to me.

Soon, Arthur and Bill had joined us. "Charlie, Charlie, hi, I'm your big bruver!" Bill exclaimed happily, squealing and trying to get Charlie's attention. Charlie turned his head slightly and looked at Bill with an interested expression.

"How come he's not saying anyfing?" Bill asked, looking hurt.

"He doesn't know how yet," I replied, "but I think he's trying to figure out who that nutter is!"

Charlie looked back at me and gave me a look that almost said, "You translated it correctly. You're definitely my momma."

"Hey there, Charlie," Arthur whispered, stroking the little bit of hair that existed on Charlie's head. Charlie directed his attention at my husband, who smiled and said to me, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," I sighed, looking at Bill and Charlie contentedly. "I couldn't be better."

Gideon and Fabian sat in our couch, beaming. Gideon, who refused to say what was in the package next to him, was cradling Charlie while Fabian was making faces at Bill. "GOO-AH!" Fabian exclaimed, pulling a particularly grotesque face that sent Bill into a fit of giggles; as my brother rested one of his hands on the couch arm, the back of his watch made a loud clanging noise.

"Oops!" he exclaimed, looking carefully at the watch that Mum and Dad had gotten for him on his seventeenth birthday. "Well," he finally decided, "it's not scratched too bad, there's just a dent in the back…" He proceeded to show me a quite hideous dent that made me surprised the watch hadn't stopped working.

"Well," Gideon said with a dignified stance, as if wanting to show that he was very different from his twin, "I guess we've informed you of what's going on. Voldemort isn't going away. He's growing stronger. People are disappearing every day. The Ministry is making a mess of things as usual – no offense to you, Arthur," he added quickly upon seeing my husband's face. "What else is new?"

I didn't like the way that my brother spoke about the current events. It was so careless, so dull… I could vaguely remember a time that seemed like a lifetime away, when the world was peaceful and we didn't have to worry about getting killed or losing a dear friend. Immediately, Marlene's and Dorcas's faces popped into my mind, and I closed my eyes quickly.

"Anyways," Gideon hastily continued, ignoring Fabian, who was now attempting to explain Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts to Bill, who hadn't fully grasped the concept of money yet, "I figured that you weren't going to join the Order any time soon, and in fact you seem to be determined to singly repopulate the earth, and with everything going on, I thought you might want this…"

He pulled the package out and unwrapped a beautiful new clock. But as I examined the clock with delight, it wasn't like any other clock I'd seen; it had little double-spoons, one of the ends of the spoons having a picture of each member of our family and their names written. Instead of numbers, the clock dials read 'home, away, work, mortal peril, travelling,' and other headings like it. "Ingenious," I exclaimed quietly. "Gid, this is wonderful! I can keep track of all of you guys now!"

"Oh, great," Fabian said, pulling out of his playtime with Bill, "you've given Molly a stalking device? 'Ingenious! I can keep track of all you guys now!' What've you gotten yourself into, Gid? You'll regret it, I bet," he added, a wry smile on his face. "Oh, just you wait…"

"That's exactly what I thought," Gid cut in, shocking Fabian into silence. "You worry about us so much, Molly; I just thought this would alleviate some of your worries."

I grinned and gave my brother a bear hug, our signature hug that the Prewetts gave each other. "Thank you, Gid," I said. "It's wonderful."

"Here come the stalking calls," Fabian predicted, but his predictions turned out not to hold water. One look at my wonderful clock and I would know that Gid and Fabian were 'home', 'travelling', or 'dead'. Naturally, the last option never showed up, and my heart only began to beat a little faster when I saw that they were in 'mortal peril'. However, this was common when they went on missions; Alice's picture went to 'mortal peril' occasionally, and about an hour later, I might see her after her Order of the Phoenix mission. The clock proved my theory that being in the Order of the Phoenix was more dangerous than having jobs at the Ministry as Aurors, but my siblings managed to deftly ignore my berating, as did Bill and Charlie when they grew slightly older.

"I hope Perseus doesn't cause this much trouble," I sighed, once again looking at my large tummy.

"Perseus is a weird name," Bill commented. "How about we call him Percy?"

"Percy, yeah!" Charlie chimed in. "He can be Percy the Prat!"

"Hey, now, don't start calling him names before you know him," I chided, but 'prat' unfortunately stuck.

"Auntie Alice and Uncle Frank are in mortal peril," Bill informed me, pointing to the clock. I looked at it, immediately tense, but after a few moments, my sister's and brother-in-law's faces went to 'travelling' and then, shortly after, 'home'. I breathed a sigh of relief. Our family was safe, for now.


	7. Chapter 7

Pushing the little wisps of my hair down nervously, I looked at my swollen belly in self-consciousness. I had given up on the house a long time ago; it was so messy that it could be called a disaster area. Bill's and Charlie's toys were strewn all over the couch, and a new baby cradle had just arrived for Percy, who would be born in about a month.

I was expecting a visit from Dumbledore, who, as I looked at the clock, would be arriving any moment. In a final attempt to tidy things up, I waved my wand frantically. Luckily for me, it worked; Bill's and Charlie's toys disappeared into their various cabinets, dust cleared itself, and the house looked relatively sane once again. I sighed, looking at the sagging couch. It would have to do.

Hearing a ding from my clock, I looked over and saw that Arthur was traveling. I racked my brains, trying to remember if Arthur had said that he was coming home to meet Dumbledore with me. He hadn't.

The moment that my husband set foot in the house, I heard a knock at the door. Completely disregarding Arthur, I ran to the door, smoothed down my dress, and opened it.

There Dumbledore stood, just as I remembered him when he was a Transfiguration teacher; of course, his hair had considerably grayed since, and his beard almost seemed longer. But there were his half-moon spectacles, that crooked nose, and those eyes that could pierce right through you.

"Good afternoon, Molly," he said cheerfully. He waited at the doorstep, apparently waiting for something.

"Oh, do come in, Dumbledore!" I exclaimed, stepping outside of the open doorway so he could enter.

"I'm afraid I have to submit to questioning," Dumbledore responded. "You may ask me any question you like that only the real Dumbledore will know the answer to."

A leaflet from the Ministry about how to protect against Death Eaters had come in the mail yesterday. Arthur had deemed it "complete rubbish". I had taken one look at it and decided that, if the Death Eaters really did come knocking, looking at a leaflet to help me would not be of much use, and I threw it away. Dumbledore, it seemed, was at least adhering to one of the suggestions in the leaflet: asking security questions to make sure that a Death Eater was not impersonating someone with help of the Polyjuice Potion.

"Oh, well then," I said, trying to think of an instance that Dumbledore would remember, "What grade did I get on my last Transfiguration exam?"

"A perfect score," Dumbledore replied, looking at me through his spectacles. "It's a wonder you didn't go into something of that nature. Now, what was your first job out of Hogwarts?"

"I worked as a cook at the Leaky Cauldron," I recited, the words flowing out of my mouth without having to think about them. "Now, do come in."

"I should think I shall," Dumbledore laughed, and stepping over the threshold, he closed the door behind him and stood in front of me. "It really is a nuisance, these Ministry security measures, but someone must do them. And I don't mean to brag, but because of my status at Hogwarts, I am probably one of the top persons which Death Eaters hope to impersonate."

I smiled. "Well, I would imagine so," I commented, "but I can't think why Death Eaters would want to come to The Burrow, of all places, unless they wanted to get a good home-cooked meal."

Dumbledore's smile disappeared. "It is on this reason that I come," he said quietly. "Where's Arthur? I was informed that he would be here."

"I wasn't," I muttered, but Arthur appeared from around the corner and exclaimed, "Ah, Dumbledore, hello, how are you?"

"I'm well, thank you," Dumbledore said politely. "Now, if I may intrude on your hospitality…" And he took a seat on the couch.

Arthur and I sat down in separate chairs facing Dumbledore and waited for our old teacher to speak.

"As you are aware of, Alice, Fabian, and Gideon are all in the Order," Dumbledore began. "I imagine that they have told you of their whereabouts and their missions?" He looked at me curiously.

"No, they haven't," I said immediately, making sure that Dumbledore knew my siblings kept the secrecy of the Order in their utmost priorities. "All I know is that they go on missions."

Dumbledore nodded and glanced around the house, as if he was looking for a slip of paper that would inform me where Fabian and Gideon were going, or when Alice's next mission was. Instead, his eyes rested on the clock.

"What a splendid clock!" he exclaimed, looking at it with great interest. "I have never seen such a thing. Wherever did you get it?"

"Gideon gave it to me," I explained, "so I wouldn't worry. This way, I can see whether they're in mortal peril or just home now."

Still looking at the clock, Dumbledore smiled as a new hand popped up: Percy.

"You must be due soon," Arthur whispered. I nodded impatiently, wanting Dumbledore to finish what he was saying.

"Anyways, what were you saying?" I asked once Dumbledore had turned his head away from the clock and back to us.

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore said, his expression grave once again. "Since Alice, Fabian, and Gideon do not tell you what their missions for the Order are, or what they do for the Order, there would really be no reason for Death Eaters to try and get information out of you. However, since the Order is really an utmost secret – besides the fact that the Death Eaters know about us – Voldemort's allies would have no way of knowing if you two were important sources of information. If you two were to join the Order, this would only confirm the Death Eaters' suspicions. Therefore, the reason for my visit today is quite clear: although I would love to have you in the Order, I beg you not to join. Fabian, Gideon, and Alice are already risking their lives, and especially if you have children, it would be wise to stay away. If in the unlikely event that your siblings all perish" – here, he paused uncomfortably – "your children would have nowhere to go if you two had joined the Order and were in danger as well."

He ended his speech and looked at Arthur and me curiously to see what our reactions would be. Arthur bowed his head in consent. I was slightly triumphant in the sense that this was what I had been telling my siblings all along; now that Dumbledore had explicitly told me not to join the Order, they shouldn't even dare to dispute me. I nodded.

"I have a strange feeling that you have told this same thing to Alice, or Fabian, or Gideon," Dumbledore guessed shrewdly.

"Er… yes," I said, laughing.

"Then my visit was simply a reinforcement of your ideals," Dumbledore said benignly. "I am glad, then, that I stopped by. Perhaps your siblings had weakened your resistance. Now, I must be going, for I have a number of things to do, and not enough time to do them." He stood up.

"Oh, won't you at least have something to eat before you go?" I asked, not liking to send a guest away without food.

Dumbledore paused, clearly tempted by the idea, before he respectfully declined. "As lovely as your cooking is, my dear Molly, I really cannot afford to stop. But I expect I shall come back at some point." He smiled and, with a last good-bye, walked out the door. Before I could peek outside the door, he had Disapparated.

Not a week later, I found myself in St. Mungo's once again, cradling Percy. A little wisp of curly red hair was stuck to his head. Bill and Charlie looked on with interest.

"Hi, Percy," Charlie said shyly. Percy gave Charlie an almost withering gaze, as if he were saying, "And what are you doing up so late?" I looked at my new son in slight surprise. He was going to be a character.

"Percy doesn't like you," Bill laughed. "But he likes me, Chuck, see?" He waved at Percy, and Percy looked at Bill approvingly. "I like Percy, mammy."

I smiled. "I think we all do."

One more addition to the family, and one more reason why I wasn't ever putting my life in danger.


	8. Chapter 8

A sharp rapping at my door jolted me out of my nap. "Come in!" I called sleepily, momentarily forgetting security measures. But as the door began to open, I came to my senses, pulled out my wand, and pointed it at the stranger. "Who are you?" I asked, fear beginning to seep into my heart.

"Benjy Fenwick, Order of the Phoenix," the person behind the door answered. Benjy, if it really was him, had not opened the door any further.

"What did you say to me the first time we met?" I asked, still pointing my wand at the door.

"Do you really think I remember, Mol?" Benjy replied. There was silence, in which my eyes widened; could he possibly be a Death Eater in disguise? I began running through all my defensive spells in my head before I heard Benjy say, "Oh, you wanted to sit in our cabin, didn't you? So I said 'sure', and then, 'I'm Benjy – Benjy Fenwick. What's your name?' Something along those lines, anyway."

My heart sank back to its usual position in my chest. "All right, you can come in," I sighed.

Benjy's smiling face appeared in my doorway. Since first year, he had lost his boyish face, but he still had the brown hair and the air of geekiness. "I had you convinced I was a Death Eater for a moment, didn't I?" he asked mischievously.

"Don't scare me like that again," I said sternly. "I've a mind to not even give you any stew that I'm fixing!"

Immediately, Benjy's smile disappeared. "Mol, just ask me a different question next time! Please feed me?"

I couldn't help but laugh at the silly expression on Benjy's face. I opened my mouth to respond when I heard the patter of little feet and a _whoosh_ that sounded suspiciously like the new toy broomstick Fabian had sent to Charlie.

Sure enough, around the corner came Charlie, flying only a foot above the ground, but still making me nervous enough that I wanted to just send him outside. I knew full well I couldn't do that, though; he would most likely go flying off and never find home again. Bill rounded the corner after Charlie, half-dragging Percy while chasing Charlie with his own toy broomstick, which looked broken.

Benjy managed to jump as Charlie soared beneath his feet. Charlie headed for the door, but I grabbed the tail of the broomstick and held him back. "Don't even think about it, young man!" I exclaimed sternly, in the same voice I had just used with Benjy.

Charlie was highly disappointed. "I wanta fly outside!" he shouted.

"Well Mummy says no, and you're going to listen to her, because otherwise you won't get a Chocolate Frog tonight," I told him, and with that, Charlie hopped off his broom immediately.

"I wanta Chocolate Frog! Pwease, Mummy, can I have one?" he begged.

"You'll get one after supper," I said. "Now run along and play elsewhere. Mummy is talking to a friend."

Charlie did as he was told and was soon gone. Bill, however, stayed, and in his momentary distraction, Percy fought free of Bill's grip and ran up the stairs after Charlie.

"It looks like you've got your hands full," Benjy commented.

I nodded. "But they're pleasant handfuls," I laughed. There was silence for a moment, in which Bill looked at the broken toy broomstick thoughtfully, until I said, "Benjy, did you just drop by to have some stew, or was there another reason?"

Benjy smiled wryly. "I figured we'd get to this," he said. "I'm here as part of a protection thing we've got going for the Order. I'm in charge of checking in on all the family members of the Order who will be in the most danger and will have the most to lose. You have three kids and- er- more on the way?" he guessed.

"Yeah, I'm only a month along though," I said defensively. I wasn't _that_ big yet.

"Really?" Benjy asked. "It looks like you're a bit more than a month along."

He hadn't meant it as an insult, but I couldn't pretend I wasn't just a bit offended. "Come on, I'm not fat!" I exclaimed.

"I wasn't saying that," Benjy said quickly. "It's just… maybe you could have more than one."

I looked down. He was right; I seemed a bit more along than just one month. After all, I had gone through this three times before. "Perhaps," I said, wondering how much this would change the finance situation.

"So you've been sent here to check up on me and make sure I'm not dead?" I asked, turning the subject away from the unborn child (or children) again.

"Yeah," Benjy confirmed. "That's basically the jist of it. So as much as I'd like to stay…" He looked hopefully at the stew.

"It won't be ready for another hour," I told him, and Benjy's face fell. "You're always welcome to come back," I added.

"I think I will," Benjy laughed. "It's just nice to know that, with everything changing in the world, you're still going to be the best cook."

True to his word, Benjy returned for dinner. Arthur, Benjy, and I had fun reminiscing about our days in school, much to the dismay of Charlie and Bill. Percy seemed quite content, however, to sit with the adults, despite the fact that he was barely a year old.

Benjy returned every week for a few months, always staying for dinner and catching us up on what was happening in the fight against You-Know-Who. His visits were always marked with more bad news – a disappearance of another wizard, a murder of a Muggle family – but I still enjoyed seeing him. It reminded me that not all was lost, and despite everything going on, there was still time to relax.

In October, three months after Benjy's first visit, I was cleaning the house in a mad attempt to show some kind of order in the clutter. Cleaning, however, was _not_ my specialty. I could wave my wand as much as I wanted, but all the clutter did was heap itself into corners. I sighed and looked at the time; the house was still a mess, but at least it was (as I liked to call it) an organized mess. Attempting to fold all the clothes in one heap again, I gave my wand a flick, but all it did was fly up and collapse again. Oh, well, I thought to myself; it would have to do.

A ticking noise issued from my clock, and I looked around in alarm. Alice and Frank didn't have any missions from the order, and neither did Fabian or Gideon, to my knowledge. Instead of my siblings, however, I saw Arthur's portrait move from 'travelling' to 'home'. I frowned; Arthur never came home this early!

"What happened?" I asked, running to the door. Arthur stepped in immediately as I took off his travelling cloak; for us, we knew there was no need of safety measures. My clock, according to Gideon, wasn't fooled by enchantments or tricks like the Polyjuice Potion.

Polishing his glasses on his shirt, Arthur looked up at me in worry. "Honey, Benjy Fenwick disappeared yesterday."

A hand flew to my mouth. It took me a moment to realize it was my own hand. Benjy, my old school friend… I had been expecting him today… I had even made my onion soup, his favorite…

"Well- er- it's not very pleasant," Arthur continued hesitantly. He didn't seem to want to tell me, but I needed to know exactly what had happened.

"He was one of my best friends," I said firmly, trying to ignore the fact that I was already using the past tense with him. If he had disappeared, maybe the Death Eaters had only kidnapped him… maybe he was still alive. Shaking my head in doubt, I knew that this was probably not true. You-Know-Who tortured, true, but after he tortured, he murdered. I shuddered; what fate could have possibly befallen Benjy?

Arthur hesitated, but he saw the firmness in my eyes. Sighing, he looked down at the floor as he mumbled, "They haven't found his body, but someone found his glasses and… well… they've just found bits and pieces of him. I don't think they'll ever find his body intact."

_Bits and pieces_? What was that supposed to mean? Had You-Know-Who blown off one of Benjy's fingers, and left a toe lying around? Just the thought of it made me want to cry. This time, though, I shook my head; I would show no tears. Benjy had died a hero, and he wouldn't have wanted me crying over him. He would have wanted me to continue the fight, to make sure he didn't die in vain. I knew I couldn't fight, not with three young ones and one more (perhaps two, if Benjy had predicted correctly) on the way; but I resolved at that moment that my house would become a safe house for the Order of the Phoenix. I couldn't fight, but I realized that there was something I could do to help the cause.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **I'm super sorry that I haven't updated in, well, forever. I really lost the train of this story and I couldn't decide if it was going the way I wanted it to. If any of you still want to complete it I promise I'll be done with this soon! Thank you so much for sticking around :)

Chapter Nine

It had been seven months since Benjy had disappeared. No one had found him; even Mad-Eye, the great Auror, had only found "bits and pieces". I did not know what that meant, and I didn't care to. I was glad I remembered Benjy as he had been: charming, polite, quirky, funny, and always ready for some of my cooking. Not in bits and pieces. Benjy didn't deserve that.

I checked the clock Gideon had given me more often now. I was worried about my family. My brothers and my sister and my brother-in-law were all in the Order of the Phoenix. Were they crazy? Well, I knew I could answer for my brothers: yes, they were. For my part, I was not a true Gryffindor. I was scared. I was scared to fight, scared to lose any of my children. My youngest, Percy, was two now; and Arthur and I had another coming. Or perhaps two, or three - I was much bigger than I had ever been with Percy or Charlie or Bill.

You-Know-Who had gained more supporters than ever. Many had been forced into joining him, but more worryingly, others went willingly. Alice, Frank, Gideon, and Fabian were all extremely busy with the Order. Although Arthur and I commended their efforts, I couldn't help but think that they were far too outnumbered. Even with the new recruits, whose names I had heard thrown around - James and Lily Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew - the Order was vastly outnumbered. And although Ali wasn't happy when I told her, she knew it was true: we had both heard Mad-Eye Moody say it.

The Burrow had been used as a safe house three times: once by Ali and Frank, once by Sirius Black (a new recruit to the Order, and a very nice young man), and once by Dumbledore. Ali had refused to tell me why she and Frank had needed a safe house, but I decided that questions would not help resolve the situation. I sent Charlie, Percy, and Bill up to their rooms and kept them safe with a plethora of shield spells. When he came, Sirius Black insisted that he had just been out with his friend James and he had been attacked by two Death Eaters. Our house, he told me, was the closest. And Dumbledore had claimed to need the safe house, but I suspected he had just come for my cooking.

The clock chimed. I was in the middle of my stew, but I ran out to check it anyways. Percy was watching it very closely. I looked at the clock anxiously. Which one of my siblings was in mortal peril this time?

"Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon are in mortal peril," Percy said politely. It sounded as if he was forecasting the weather.

I took a deep breath. _They're fine_, I told myself. _They have to be_.

And then I witnessed the strangest thing occur. My clock, which had so far not malfunctioned in the slightest, began going haywire. Fabian's and Gideon's needles began frantically oscillating between "home" and "mortal peril". The clock simply could not decide where they were. My heart leapt in fear; did that mean that they were home - but still in mortal peril?

"Come here," I whispered, even though they couldn't hear me. "Come here, you'll be safe here."

For an agonising half an hour, my twin brothers' needles went back and forth between "home" and "mortal peril" before finally landing on something, the word I'd been avoiding for the past half hour: "dead". My hand flew to my mouth. They hadn't... no, they hadn't... the clock had to be wrong... no, they wouldn't... Fabian and Gideon.. they weren't...

"Mother," Percy said quietly, putting his chubby hand on my knee as I sank to the floor, "Mother, it's all right. It's all right, Mother."

Arthur came home to find me quietly sobbing with my back against a chair. The stew was burnt and Percy had not left my side. Bill and Charlie had come down too. They had seen Fabian's and Gideon's hands. They knew. As much as I had tried to protect my children, they were exposed to the darkness of our world, the darkness You-Know-Who had brought.

"Molly-"

But then he saw the clock. Or perhaps he saw the three hands pointing to the clock, all chubby hands from toddlers. He stopped short and wiped his forehead. "Molly, I- I'll find out if that's right-"

"No need," I choked. "It is."

Dumbledore and Mad-Eye Moody came the next day. "We'll give them a proper funeral," Dumbledore promised, patting my shoulder. "They were great assets to the Order and were good until the end. They were good brothers and shall sorely be missed; but my dear Molly, we must make sure they did not die in vain." His sparkling blue eyes cut me to the core. I rested my hand on my belly; I was nearly due.

"I'll remember them," I promised in a low voice.

"They went down like heroes," Mad-Eye said. "When we went to their house, we found five Death Eaters' bodies. It took five of 'em to take down your brothers."

Perhaps that was supposed to make me proud to be Fabian and Gideon's sister. But it just made me even sadder. What had Fabian's last moments been like? Had Gideon been able to laugh once more? And then I remembered my first day at Hogwarts. My brothers, sitting at the Gryffindor table, laughing. My brothers. Dead.

Just before they left, Dumbledore handed me Fabian's watch. "It was lying on his dresser," Dumbledore said quietly. "I thought you'd like to have it."

"What about Alice?" I sniffed, taking the watch from Dumbledore.

"She wanted you to have it," Dumbledore replied gently. He gave me a small smile and patted my hand before leaving my house.

I turned the watch over in my hands. It still had the dent on it. I grasped it tightly to my chest and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to prevent tears from leaking out. I gazed at the watch, then put it in a drawer. No use being sentimental now. I would find a use for it sometime.

On April 1st, I gave birth to twin boys. Benjy had been right; I hadn't just been carrying one child that day. They looked so much like their uncles. Arthur and I decided to name them with Fabian's and Gideon's initials. Fredrick and George Weasley. But of course, Fabian wouldn't have liked Fredrick. We needed to call him Fred. Yes, Fabian would have liked Fred. And Gideon would have liked George. Perhaps they were watching from up above. Fred and George, my twin boys, who looked so similar to their uncles; and at that moment, something flared up in my chest that wasn't extreme love for my sons.

If anyone - _anyone_ - ever touched my children, they would face my wrath.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

I was becoming the running joke of my remaining family - my sister Alice and her husband, Frank. "Another one?" Ali asked, looking at me. I was eight months pregnant with my sixth child.

"Well, you're one to talk," I joked, shoving her playfully. Alice was four months pregnant with her first child. "We're basically pregnant at the same time."

"But I'm not on my sixth," Alice pointed out. "I can't imagine! Six! And I suppose this isn't your last," she added, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't know," I laughed. "We're close enough, we might as well go for the lucky number seven."

Alice rolled her eyes and grinned at me. "You're crazy," she said seriously. "Really crazy."

"I know," I said happily.

Ronald was born on March 16th. Alice came to St. Mungo's and stayed with me through the whole thing. She was the one who lifted Ron up so I could see him. I grinned at my precious little boy, but couldn't help feel a bit disappointed; six boys, but I did desperately want a girl. So really, I had to have another, just to see.

Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, and George all came out to see their new brother. Percy was the most aloof and Fred and George the most mischievous; while Percy drank his tea, Fred and George tried to play Quidditch with their brother - featuring Ron as the Quaffle. Naturally, Arthur stepped in quickly to stop the twins from causing too much mayhem in a hospital.

The times were getting darker, but for our family, the times seemed to grow happier. Alice's baby boy, Neville, was born on July 30th. Ali and I spent nearly every day together, taking care of our babies and discussing what we thought had been their first words. Frank and Arthur formed the "Dad's Club" - Frank liked to call it the "New Dad's Club" and Arthur jokingly went along with it, since he was practically a new father. Six wasn't that big of a number, after all; he would only graduate from the novice "Dad's Club" at the seventh child, who would make an appearance in about eight months.

A year later, in October, we got the best news we'd had in over a decade. Ali was over at my place, helping me clean up after dinner while Ron, Ginny, and Neville played with their favourite toys, when someone began frantically pounding at the door. "Molly!" Arthur shouted.

I forgot about the security procedures. I flung open the door, conveniently not remembering that Arthur had a key to get into the house. He certainly didn't need to bang on the door so much. "Is something wrong?" I asked worriedly.

"No, no, Molly, it's the best news yet!" Arthur exclaimed, setting down his briefcase, picking me up, and swinging me around. He left the door wide open to the night. "Frank is coming soon - oh, Molly, it's wonderful!"

"Why, what's happened?" Alice asked, wiping her hands on a dishtowel and walking over. "And shouldn't we shut that door?" she added sharply, rushing to our wide-open door.

"No!" Arthur shouted. "You-Know-Who is dead!"

My eyes widened. "Dead?" I exclaimed. "He's - but who killed him?"

Arthur grinned. "Well, it's the most miraculous and no one knows how-! But he went to the Potter's house. He killed James and Lily Potter - but he tried to kill the little boy, Harry, and Harry lived! Harry - the Boy Who Lived!"

"Harry?" Ali asked. "He's only a day younger than my Neville - and his parents are dead?"

"Well, yes," Arthur said, his grin fading. "But You-Know-Who is gone for good - gone! We don't have to worry anymore about anything!"

I felt sorry for the little boy, Harry Potter, whose parents had been Lord Voldemort's last victims. But he had ushered in new light. The constant terror that had gripped me ever since my seventh year at Hogwarts had been lifted from my shoulders. Fabian and Gideon had helped bring about this world, this new world of light and peace. The war was over. My family was safe; my sister, my brother-in-law, my husband, and my seven children.

Frank appeared shortly afterwards to kiss his wife and his year-old boy. We could all start families safely, without the fear of someone unwelcome coming to our door.

It was over at last.


	11. Chapter 11

It was, as I look back on it, too good to be true.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, had been whisked off into obscurity; no one knew what had happened to the little lad that had saved us all. I felt sorry for him. He was parentless and utterly alone in the world. Arthur and I would have taken him in, but when Arthur approached Dumbledore with this idea, he was rejected on the premise that Harry needed to be with family. I hoped Harry's Muggle relatives would treat him well. Arthur seemed to think so, but I wasn't one to trust Muggles as easily as Arthur.

I had put my clock away. For a while, I did not need reminding that Fabian and Gideon were dead. Our needles had all gone off the "mortal peril" slot, so really, I didn't need to worry anymore.

The day I took off the clock was the day Arthur came home in tears.

"Mummy, why is Daddy crying?" George asked, tugging on my sleeve. He noticed before I did.

I looked up to see my husband more upset than I had ever seen him. My heart skipped a beat. Surely- it couldn't be- not You-Know-Who, not again-

"Arthur," I said. My voice sounded strangled. "Arthur- what's- is-"

I couldn't even say You-Know-Who.

Arthur shook his head. "He's still gone," he replied through his tears. "His followers won't accept that, though."

"They're hunting for him?" I asked fearfully. "Oh, no, Arthur- the children-"

Neither of us noticed that we had a little crowd around us: Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, and Ron were all standing around us. Ron was using Bill as support to stay standing. Ginny was still in her crib.

"No, they're safe," he said absently. "Molly... His followers..."

Arthur choked and seemed unable to continue. I looked around, noticing the children. "Go and play," I said, feigning a cheery voice. "Your father and I have some matters to discuss."

Bill looked thoughtfully at us. He held something round in his hands. "Mum, why did you take this down?" Bill asked, holding up the clock.

"Because we don't need it anymore," I said briskly, glancing at it. The- wait, the hands had changed. Arthur was back to home. Well, of course he was; he was home, wasn't he? And then it occurred to me that his hand wasn't the only one that had changed.

Alice and Frank. "Hospital".

"Alice?" I said quietly, my heart hammering faster. "Why- why is my sister in the hospital?"

It was meant as a rhetorical question, but Arthur gained control of himself and he answered. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear this answer at this point, though.

"Molly, his- You- his followers," he stammered. "They- went to Alice and Frank's- looking for You-"

"Why on Earth would they go there?" I cut in sharply. "My sister had nothing to do with _him_."

"They're deranged," Arthur said softly.

I turned to the children. "Go and play," I ordered. "You should have listened the first time. Now go!"

Apparently I shouted, because my children scattered pretty quickly. Ginny began to cry, and Charlie went to go comfort her.

"So they've been injured," I said, turning back to Arthur.

Arthur sighed. He pulled off his glasses, polished them on his shirt, and put them back on again. "They're deranged," he repeated.

"I don't- what do you-"

It was then that I realised, perhaps Arthur was not just talking about You-Know-Who's followers.

"Arthur," I said urgently, "_what happened_?"

"Ali- Ali and Frank were subjected to the Cruciatus Curse," Arthur said heavily. "So much so that they lost their minds. They're deranged. Insane. They don't know who they are."

"And-"

But I couldn't take it anymore. My sister. Ali.

"Who did it?" I asked, my voice dangerously quiet. I was no longer filled with grief; the grief had been eaten and consumed by anger.

"I- well, four followers," Arthur said, "we think. One was Barty Crouch Junior-"

"_Him_!" I snarled. "And there's Barty Crouch, killing You-Know-Who's followers left and right, well! Look what came of that!"

"Molly, please," Arthur begged. "Don't lose it- not now. I- there was Rodolphus Lestrange, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Rabastan Lestrange."

"A family affair indeed," I breathed.

I went to the hospital to see Ali and Frank, but it was a mistake. They did not remember me. They didn't even look like themselves. They were thin and raggedy, already losing their hair. And, with childlike innocence, Ali asked me why I was starting to cry. I couldn't tell her. How could I? She was my sister, and she was gone forever. My family was gone forever. No, I realised, they weren't. I had my children and Arthur. I could build a new family. I already had.

I offered to take in Neville, to raise him, but Frank's mother stepped in. She told me, gently but firmly, that Arthur and I didn't have enough money to raise an eighth child. She said she would take care of the boy. I understood. She had had only one child, Frank, and now that child was gone. The least I could give her was her only grandson.

I also went to the trial of the four people who essentially killed my sister and my brother-in-law. Arthur warned me against it, told me that I was too headstrong and might attack them, but I knew I wouldn't. I just wanted to see them sentenced.

What pleased me was the crowd's reaction. Everybody booed them. Everyone was furious that these four people had tried to destroy our safety. Ali and Frank were well-liked. It made me feel sort of triumphant that, in looking at these criminals, I knew that they would be despised for the rest of their lives, whereas my sister would be exonerated.

I watched as Barty Crouch sentenced his own son to life in prison. I didn't feel sorry for either of them.

And then there was the woman, that crazy woman who had taken away my sister. I could tell right away that she was responsible; the others were her minions, but she was the leader. She had been the one who had used the Curse so much that my sister had lost her mind.

That name stuck with me: Bellatrix Lestrange.

It stuck with me for sixteen years.


	12. Chapter 12

You-Know-Who came back. Somehow, in the back of my mind, I thought he might. He was too powerful to be killed by a baby- the baby who had grown up to be my son's best friend.

Ron and his friends met my sister. When Arthur was attacked, Ron, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione wandered into the ward where Alice and Frank stayed. There, they met Neville. I didn't tell Ron. I didn't tell Ginny. What was the point in telling them that their aunt was insane? What was the point in telling them that their uncles had been killed and that their aunt and uncle were tortured to insanity?

And then Bellatrix Lestrange escaped from prison.

Ron wrote home to me and told me that his classmate, Neville, seemed a lot angrier than usual. He didn't tell me that he knew why, and I didn't tell him that I knew, too. But I shared Neville Longbottom's anger.

But it was during the Battle of Hogwarts when I finally came face to face with my mortal enemy. And there she was, picking on children! Hermione- my son's girlfriend, as far as I could tell- and Luna- and- no. Ginny. My only daughter. I barely saw the Killing Curse that missed my daughter by inches before I was running towards Bellatrix, that despicable human being who had killed my sister. And I said the words I'd been waiting to say.

"NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" I screeched.

There were too many people- couldn't they get out of my way? There were simply too many of them. Couldn't they see that this crazy bitch nearly killed my daughter? "OUT OF MY WAY!" I shouted.

She laughed. She thought I was no match for her. Oh, but I _was_.

The students didn't think so, either. They came running up, trying to help me. "No!" I shouted. "Get back! _Get back_! She is mine!" She was mine to kill since that day, since Ali and Frank had been sent to St Mungo's with no hope of getting out. She was mine to kill since I saw her in her trial, with those horrible heavily-lidded eyes and that never-remorseful voice. She was mine to kill since she had orphaned my nephew Neville. She was mine to kill since I had seen my son Fred's body on a bed, lifeless. She was mine to kill since she had taken my family.

She wasn't laughing anymore. In a final, desperate attempt, she shouted, "What will happen to your children when I've killed you?" She was saying it in an almost sing-song voice. "When Mummy's gone the same way as Freddie?"

Fury rose up inside me, more fury than I had ever felt before. "You - will - never - touch - our - children - again!" I screamed, feeling as mad as she was. And it was our children. My children - Fred. Our children - Alice's son Neville. She had hurt so many. And she was not going to hurt anyone anymore.

I was barely aware of my curse, but I saw it hit her in her chest. She froze and toppled to the ground. And as I watched her fall, I felt a huge sense of relief. Relief in knowing that, for me, it was over. Relief in knowing that no one would ever touch my family again. My sons would marry in peace, as would my daughter. Neville could rest easy, knowing that his parents' killer was gone. And so could I.

No one is going to touch Molly Weasley's family again.

Not when _I_ am there.

((A/N: Thank you guys so much for sticking with this story! I know it took a really long time to finish- but it's finally done! What did you think? Did I portray Molly well? Again, thank you so much for all your support! It really means a lot! Until next time~))


End file.
